Next up: The Cougars face Magnolia at 7 p.m. Friday at Bulldog Stadium.

Next up is a meeting with Magnolia (0-5, 0-2), which was leading Waller until late in the third quarter of its 31-27 setback.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday at Bulldog Stadium.

Tomball (2-3, 0-2) opened district against Magnolia West, falling 53-29 on the road.

"The way that they've raised their program over the last six years, Coach (Shawn) Bell deserves a lot of credit, and they deserve a lot of kudos," Ramsey said.

"Our kids played hard for a half, but not quite as hard as we would like to in the first half, and that was the difference in the ballgame."

They put a complete game together against Stratford a lack of depth took its toll.

The Cougars were missing several players going in, including starting linemen Ricardo Santana and Riley Quigley, and they lost more players to injuries during the 35-29 loss, their first at home.

"We had some kids who played 170 snaps in that game, and to have a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter – and a couple of chances, I guess – really spoke volumes about what our kids are doing in terms of growing as a team and becoming a unit," Ramsey said.

Tomball trailed 21-7 at halftime but, after trading touchdowns in the second half, pulled within 28-21 mid-way through the fourth quarter, when it had a chance to tie the game but went three-and-out.

The junior slot receiver/backup quarterback hauled in 10 receptions for 100 yards and two touchdowns, including one that bounced off a fellow receiver before Allen kept it from hitting the turf.

He also ran a reverse for a touchdown.

"The amazing thing about him this week is not so much those things, because he catches pretty much anything you throw him, but that he played defense for quite a bit of the game, based on the injury scenarios that we ran into it," Ramsey said.

Allan played safety on defense.

Wide receiver Jerome Ramirez also filled multiple roles, playing cornerback on defense and every snap on special teams.

Going forward, Ramsey said their focus has to be on controlling their effort and attitude, and not on the wins and losses, which they can't always control.

They also have to stop the run to have any chance of making the playoffs.

"We've got to do a better job of that, and so we've made some tweaks this week to try to help us … based on our personnel," Ramsey said.

With five district contests remaining, the Cougars probably have to top Magnolia, Spring Woods and Tomball Memorial, and upset a Waller or Brenham, to secure a place in the postseason.

Ramsey realizes as much. He also knows his players can't afford to look ahead.

"As a coach, you do," he said. "But, honestly, in this district you've got to look at every game a week at a time. There are no patsies in this district. Everybody is playing well."

The Cougars just have to make sure they're playing a little better, starting this week with the Bulldogs.

"They've got a quarterback who's very quick," Ramsey said. "We experienced a type of kid like that when we faced Caney Creek, and they scored 35 points on us (Tomball won 43-35), so we've got to do some things to contain the run game of kids like that.

"And then we started to play the pass a little better this past week. We got ourselves in position to make a couple of interceptions."